Rigoletto - Prague Touring Opera Company - YouTube Rigoletto - Prague Touring Opera Company Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Mar 19, 2012 Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi samuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11. 1851. It is considered by many to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdis middle to late career. Prague Touring Opera Company a division of Pragostarconcert Victor Hugo’s Plays & Opera - Articles - Opera Vivrà Victor Hugo’s Plays & Opera by Ilana Walder-Biesanz Victor Hugo (1802–1885) is most famous as the author of novels like Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

Both of which led to popular pieces of contemporary musical theater. Less known in the English-speaking world are his fifteen plays. Even as Hugo’s most popular novels were adapted into global blockbuster musicals, his plays provided material for dozens of operas, several of which are still frequently performed today. Many operas that failed or enjoyed only moderate success have been entirely forgotten, so it is impossible to compile a complete list of operas based on Hugo’s plays. However, evidence exists for operatic adaptations of eleven of the fifteen plays—all except Inez de Castro (Hugo’s first play, which he wrote at the age of fifteen and which flopped immediately), Milles francs de récompense (never staged in Hugo’s lifetime), The Twin Brothers (incomplete), and Cromwell. In fact, Cromwell almost escaped from this list: Piave wrote a libretto based on it for Verdi, but the composer deemed it dramatically unsuitable and Hernani was substituted instead. The happy result of this substitution was Verdi’s opera Ernani (1844), a smash hit in its time and still a mildly popular piece for opera companies to perform.

The plot is as absurd and overdrawn as one would expect from a Romantic melodrama: A beautiful woman (Doña Sol, renamed Elvira in the opera) is loved by a king (Don Carlos), a bandit chief (Hernani), and her guardian (Don Ruy Gomez de Silva). She loves Hernani, but, in a somewhat twisted series of events, she ends up being kidnapped by Don Carlos. Hernani convinces Silva (to whom he owes his life, as de Silva hid him from the king) to join forces to get Doña Sol back, and promises to commit suicide (and thus pay his debt) at Silva’s signal. They join a plot against Don Carlos, which is discovered, but the king magnanimously pardons them and allows Hernani and Doña Sol to marry. Silva, consumed by jealousy, gives the appointed signal and demands that Hernani honor his promise to kill himself. He does so, but not before Doña Sol discovers the situation and kills herself as well. The play inspired riots by classicists who considered it an attack on their values, and this controversy was part of what made it an appealing candidate for operatic adaptation.

In fact, Verdi was not the only composer to adapt Hernani: Gabussi (1834), Mazzucato (1843), Laudamo (1851), and Hirschmann (1908) all composed versions as well. But Verdi’s version was by far the most successful, which is understandable given its ravishing music. Elvira’s aria “Ernani, Ernani involami” (videos: Callas , Moffo , Meade , Sutherland ) is a showpiece for Verdi sopranos, and the opera also contains several beautiful and dramatically exciting ensembles, such as the Act I trio between Elvira, Ernani, and Don Carlo ( video ) and the Act IV trio between Elvira, Ernani, and Silva ( video ). Despite other composers’ (relative) failures with Ernani, Verdi was not the first to successfully base an opera on a Hugo play. That honor goes to Donizetti for his 1833 opera Lucrezia Borgia, based on Hugo’s Lucrèce Borgia.

The plot is roughly historically inspired: Lucrezia is a vindictive poisoner with a jealous and equally murderous husband. In the play, Lucrezia is the victim of her own plots—she dies after accidentally poisoning her son. The opera contains a famous Brindisi, “Il segreto per esser felici” (videos: Horne , Garanca , Coote ), and several other notable arias, such as Gennaro’s “Di pescatore ignobile” (videos: Carreras , Giordani , Kraus ), the Duke’s “Vieni, la mia vendetta” (videos: Flagello , Vassallo ) and Lucrezia’s “Com’è bello” (videos: Caballe , Gruberova , Fleming ). Costume designs from the 1851 premiere of Rigoletto Even if Donizetti can lay claim to the first success, the longest-lasting hit was undoubtedly Verdi’s. His Rigoletto (1851), an adaptation of Hugo’s Le roi s’amuse, was the 9th-most-perfomed opera in the world in the 2012–2013 season (according to Operabase).

Hugo’s play was banned in France when it was first published, ostensibly because it was immoral but actually because it seemed dangerously like negative commentary about the king. (Although the play was based on the life of King Francis I, there were many parallels with Louis-Philippe.) However, Verdi’s operatic adaptation was not prohibited and ran for over 100 performances in Paris. Hugo saw it and conceded that it was better than the play, especially admiring “Bella figlia d’amore” ( video ). The quartet is perhaps the best excerpt from the opera, but the most universally recognizable piece is undoubtedly the canzone “La donna è mobile,” sung by the Duke (who, in the opera, replaces the king from the play) about the flighty nature of women (videos: Pavarotti , Lanza , Florez , Kaufmann , Domingo ). Even non-opera-lovers recognize the tune: it appears in European football chants, numerous television advertisements, an episode of The Aristocats (in the form of the music hall song “Ta-ra-ra Boom-dee-ay”), at least three Star Trek episodes , and far too many other places to list here!

One final Hugo play inspired operatic adaptations that are still performed: Angelo; or, The Tyrant of Padua is the basis for Ponchielli’s La Gioconda (1876) and Mercadente’s Il giuramento (1837). (Cui, Villate, and Bruneau also composed versions, in 1876, 1880, and 1928, respectively, but they are entirely unknown and unperformed today.) The story is as follows: As a young girl, Catarina saves an old woman from death, and the woman gives her a rosary in thanks. Many years later, Catarina is married to the jealous Angelo, who has taken the actress La Tisbe as his lover. La Tisbe loves Rodolfo, who loves (and is loved by) Catarina. Angelo is informed of a tryst between Catarina and Rodolfo, and, to protect his honor, he commands Catarina to commit suicide.

But La Tisbe—present in her capacity as Angelo’s mistress—recognizes the rosary Catarina wears as her mother’s and realizes that, in spite of her amorous jealousy, she has a duty to protect Caterina. She offers to provide poison for the suicide, but actually provides a sleeping drug that only produces the appearance of death. Rodolfo does not realize this and, furious at her complicity in his beloved’s death, stabs La Tisbe. Just then, Catarina awakens and is reunited with Rodolfo, who realizes that La Tisbe actually saved Catarina and is horrified by what he has done. La Gioconda is the more famous adaptation, notable for the aria “Voce di donna o d’angelo” (videos: Amadini , Podles ) and for the “Dance of the Hours” ballet from Act III ( video ), which features prominently in Disney’s Fantasia (in a scene complete with tutu-clad hippos , ostriches, alligators, and elephants).

The same ballet is mentioned in Ulysses, and tunes from it are the basis of the popular song “Hell Muddah, Hello Faddah.” Although Il giuramento is performed much less often than Ponchielli’s adaptation, it is one of Mercadente’s two best-known operas (along with La vestale). (If you are unfamiliar with Il giuramento and would like to explore it, I highly recommend beginning here on YouTube and following the path of video responses, which takes you through all of Act I, plus some other highlights.) Hugo’s seven remaining plays were all adapted into operas multiple times, but none of the operatic adaptations received lasting success.

Nonetheless, here are six of the remaining plays and the composers they inspired, along with some notes: Marion Delorme—Heller (1856), Bottesini (1862), Pedrotti (1865), Berbier (1875), Pedrell (1880s), Tarantini (1910) Ruy Blas—Bezansoni (1843), Poniatowski (1843), Rota (1858), Glover (1861), Chiarmonte (1862), Zenger (1868), Marchetti (1869), Goddard (1891), Pietri (1916) Mary Tudor—Ferrari (1840), Pacini (1843), Bognar (1856), Kashperov (1859), Balfe (1863), Gomez (1879), Wagner-Regeny (1935), Battista (unknown).

Note: Arrigo Boito (famous for his collaboration with Verdi on Otello and Falstaff) was the librettist for Gomez’ adaptation Les Burgraves—Salvi (1845), Sachs (1924) Amy Robsart—Donizetti (1829). Note: The opera, Elisabetta al castello di Kenilworth is actually a mixture of Hugo’s play and Scribe’s Leicester. It was Donizetti’s first opera set in the Tudor period, and it focused on the character of Elizabeth I, but it is not considered part of his “queens trilogy” Torquemada—Rota (1943), Demme (unknown) Cornélie Falcon as La Esmeralda in the premiere of Bertin’s opera La Esmeralda, the one Hugo play not already mentioned, did not inspire any still-performed operas, but it has a fascinating history nonetheless. Although it is often included in collections of his plays, Hugo actually wrote La Esmeralda as an opera libretto, adapting it from his own novel Notre Dame de Paris.

It is a strikingly unfaithful adaptation—for instance, Phoebus in La Esmeralda is a noble hero who sacrifices his life to clear Esmeralda’s name and save her from execution, whereas Phoebus in Notre Dame de Paris is a womanizer who is happy to watch Esmeralda get executed for supposedly murdering him. The first music for Hugo’s libretto was composed, with Hugo’s blessing and oversight, by Bertin. (You can listen to the resulting opera here .) The opera failed miserably when it premiered in 1836, which didn’t prevent other composers from trying to use the same material.

A lot of them did: Mazzucato (1838), Prevost (1840), Valero (1843), Poniatowski (1847), Dargomijsky (1847), Battista (1851), Lebeau (1857), Bizet (1859), Fry (1864), Welterhahn (1866), Muller (1867), Campana (1869), Pedrell (1875), Camps y Solar (1879), and Mesquita (1888). (Note: Because the libretto is an adaptation of Notre Dame de Paris, it is difficult to distinguish between operas based on the novel and those based on the play/libretto, so some of the above may be based on the novel. There are also at least six operas not listed here that were based directly on the novel.) Fry’s adaptation was a smash hit in its time, playing for 350 performances in America, but the composer was never able to interest European houses in his work.

Campana was more fortunate—after a Russian premiere, his opera moved to London with Adelina Patti playing Esmeralda. Hugo’s plays were never as popular has his novels—not in his time and not now. They are often criticized for being overly melodramatic, lacking good pacing, resolving themselves too quickly (usually through deaths), and generally not living up to Hugo’s skills as a poet and writer. Although most of them were fairly popular in Hugo’s day, they are almost never produced now because of these perceived failings. But however they fare as dramas per se, Hugo’s plays are undeniably attractive source material for operas. This article mentions over fifty operatic adaptations, and its lists are certainly incomplete. Among these operas are gems that are still beloved and performed today: Rigoletto, Ernani, Lucrezia Borgia, and La Gioconda. Thank you, Victor Hugo—the opera world is in your debt. Le Roi s’amuse in Court - Opéra national de Paris Le Roi s’amuse in Court Censorship and Society © Maisons de Victor Hugo / Roger-Viollet Share by email "Dance! Sing!

7 minutes at the Paris Opera" - by France Musique Just like Victor Hugo’s play, on which its libretto is based, Verdi’s Rigoletto was censored when it first appeared. Whereas Hugo decided to abandon the fight with the authorities following the publication of his celebrated text in defence of freedom of speech, Verdi agreed to transpose the action of his opera and modify the plot to ensure that his masterpiece would be performed. “The performance of this drama at the theatre gave rise to an unprecedented ministerial response. The morning after the premiere, the author received from Mr Jouslin de Lassalle, stage manager of the Théâtre-Français, the following missive, of which he carefully preserved the original: “It is half past ten, and I have just this instant received the order to suspend all further performances of Le Roi s’amuse. Mr Taylor communicated this order to me on behalf of the minister. November 23rd. The author’s first reaction was one of disbelief. The act was so arbitrary as to be incredible.” Preface by Victor Hugo to Le Roi s’amuse Victor Hugo began proceedings against the Théâtre-Française to protest against the banning of his play.

People were scandalised as much by the presentation of Triboulet as a tragic hero, as by the writer’s political onslaught against the monarchy. The entire work was judged to be profoundly immoral. Questions concerning the regulation of the theatres were dealt with by the Ministry for Commerce and Public Works, directed at this time by the Count of Argout. In 1832, the Charter of 1830 was in place and in Article 7 it stipulated that “Censorship shall never be re-established”. If the article, which was highly imprecise in its terms, concerned essentially the freedom of the press, a freedom dearly bought, the freedom of the theatres, although not specified, was implicitly included. On this basis, the writer’s intention was to bring a political case and prove the illegality of the censorship that had struck down his work.

Victor Hugo began by explaining his campaign for “his freedom as a poet and a citizen” in the Preface to the first edition of Le Roi s’amuse, which appeared on December 3rd 1832; On the day of the hearing, December 19th 1832, the lawyer Odilon Barrot pleaded on behalf of the writer and then the writer himself read a speech before a large crowd: “…Today I am banned from the theatre, tomorrow I shall be banned from the country; today I am gagged, tomorrow I shall be deported; today literature is besieged, tomorrow it will be the state.” With some astuteness, the publisher Renduel gave Victor’s Hugo’s speech to buyers of the book and then added it to the text from the third edition onwards. The speech was to remain famous as a defence of freedom of expression. On January 2nd 1833, the ministerial Tribunal declared itself incompetent to pass judgement. Victor Hugo did not appeal and refused the pension allotted to him by Louis XVIII. Première page de la préface de l’édition du « Roi s’amuse » (Ed. J.

Hetzel, 1866) : discours de Victor Hugo prononcé devant le tribunal de commerce © Bnf After 1830, a period of republican unrest, many theatrical productions took an ironic and mocking stance with regard to society and conveyed a profound sentiment of revolt against all forms of authority. The prevailing spirit of raillery extended to everything and everybody. The duo of humorous bandits, Robert Macaire and his partner Bertrand, characters from L’Auberge des Adrets, first performed in 1823 and revived in 1832, by virtue of their immense success, belong to this seditious vein. At this period, theatre was the main form of entertainment for the general populace and the July Monarchy was wary of the dangers of subversive theatre. As early as 1831, Louis-Philippe had attempted to re-introduce censorship but had failed. In 1835, however, in the wake of Guiseppe Fieschi’s assassination attempt, which killed eighteen people but left the king and the princes unscathed, censorship was re-established.

Later, Victor Hugo added to the first page of the manuscript of his play: “ Act I written amid the gunfire of the insurrection”, that is, at the moment when the barricade of the Saint-Merri cloister was torn down by government forces during the events of 5th and 6th June 1832. Moving from theatre to opera, it is important to note that Giuseppe Verdi himself, a passionate admirer of Victor Hugo’s play, was also the victim of censorship by the Austro-Hungarian Empire which occupied part of Italy, notably Venice, when he tried to adapt the play in its original form. He was obliged to transpose the work and thus produced a masterpiece that still delights audiences today. Marie-Laurence Marco is responsible for the library and documentation of the Maison de Victor Hugo. An historian specialising in 19th century history, she is preparing a theses on Les paysages sonores dans l’oeuvre poétique de Victor Hugo (Soundscapes in Victor Hugo’s poetical works).

En savoir plus Beyond 'Les Miz': Three Operas Based on Victor Hugo Novels - WQXR Beyond 'Les Miz': Three Operas Based on Victor Hugo Novels Thursday, December 06, 2012 - 12:00 AM “ Hugo’s writing has inspired over 1000 pieces of music – including more than 100 operas. Recommended Links 'Rigoletto' on World of Opera Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is considered to be one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. The 1985 musical theater version of Les Misérables – aka "Les Miz" – was one of the longest running shows on Broadway. And this month will mark the release of the much anticipated film version starring Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean. In this edition of Opera in Brief, F. Paul Driscoll, editor in chief of Opera News magazine, takes us beyond Les Miz and introduces us to three operas based on the works of Victor Hugo. “Victor Hugo’s life spanned a great change in French politics,” Driscoll reminded us.

“He was born into an atmosphere of empire in the early 1800’s.” Across the course of his life he became less of a royalist and more of a free thinker. In terms of French culture he was “a cross between Charles Dickens and Norman Mailer — a great novelist who wrote books with incredibly vivid characters, but his politics always informed everything he did.” “I don’t know why Victor Hugo is not read that much in the United States,” Driscoll continued. “I read more Dumas as a kid than Hugo.” And yet, Hugo’s writing has inspired over 1000 pieces of music – including more than 100 operas. “The trick in picking a book or play that is made into an opera,” he said, “is that you have to make sure that the characters can ‘sing’ - that they are passionate about something. And that’s something that the characters of Victor Hugo do whenever they’re put to music.” 1. La Esmeralda (1836) La Esmeralda is based on Hugo’s novel Notre Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame).

The opera was composed by Louise Bertin who was from a well-to-do family that dominated a large part of French culture through its ownership and editorship of newspapers. Bertin was partially paralyzed from birth. She, therefore, identified in many ways with the opera’s most sympathetic character – Quasimodo, the hunchback who lives inside the cathedral. Bertin worked directly with Victor Hugo on La Esmeralda. Hector Berlioz was also involved. Berlioz conducted the rehearsals and helped with the stage direction. He greatly admired Bertin’s talent. “But because of her gender, her family connection and the nature of French politics, Berlioz knew that she was never going to have the success she deserved.” Driscoll said. “The failure of this opera crushed Bertin and she never wrote another.” Driscoll tells us that it’s significant that Quasimodo is a tenor role. “It gives him lightness and a youth,” he said. The "Bell Aria" is basically a monologue. Quasimodo sings about how happy he is to be home in the cathedral. This was an aria that Hugo and Bertin worked on a lot together. She wanted it to be light.

But Hugo didn’t want it to be too happy because Quasimodo is essentially a tragic character. The hunchback reveals his mantra in the aria when he sings, "In my soul I am handsome." Frederic Antoun (2008) singing ‘Air des cloches: Mon Dieu! J’aime’ (Quasimodo’s ‘Bell Aria’): 2. Lucrezia Borgia (1833) Victor Hugo wrote a play about Lucrezia Borgia – the infamous Italian noblewoman who was the daughter of a Pope. Hugo was fascinated by this woman. “Legend says she was famously beautiful, sexual and evil,” Driscoll explained. “But if you look at the facts, she had eight children that we know of so I don’t know how she had much time to poison anybody!” Hugo’s play was adapted into an opera by Donizetti. The woman who was most closely associated with the role of Lucrezia Borgia before World War II was Giannina Arangi-Lombardi. “In the years after the war, it was a very important role assumption for Monserrat Caballé,” said Driscoll.

“Caballé recorded it and it was her Carnegie Hall debut. Lucrezia Borgia was also sung by Beverly Sills and Joan Sutherland. More recently, Renée Fleming did a production in Washington that later moved on to San Francisco.” Monserrat Caballé (1965) singing ‘Tranquillo ei posa….Com’ è bello!’: Orsini is a pants role for mezzo-soprano or contralto in Lucrezia Borgia. Orsini’s primary contribution is a brindisi, or drinking song, in the last act. “He’s leading his pals in a celebration of life not knowing that the wine they’re drinking has been poisoned!” Driscoll exclaimed. Sigrid Onégin was born in Sweden of French and German parents. Onégin was primarily a concert artist but did some operatic performing at Bayreuth and the Met. ‘She was an astonishing technician and probably more of a contralto than women who sing the role today” said Driscoll, “The voice has got incredible size, thrust and flexibility.” Sigrid Onégin (1928) singing ‘Il segreto per esser felici’: 3.

Rigoletto (1851) Victor Hugo was consumed by politics. He wrote a play in 1832 called Le Roi s’amuse which purported to be about the 16th-century king Francis I. “But the play was perceived as a criticism of the current King of France – Louis-Philippe – who was not someone that Hugo liked very much,” Driscoll explains. “So the play was withdrawn by the censors after only one performance.” Giuseppe Verdi, however, “was not a man to shy away from a controversial subject.” He wanted to make Hugo’s play into an opera. Le Roi s’amuse became the tragic opera Rigoletto and several of the characters transmuted. Instead of having a king, the licentious nobleman became the Duke of Mantua and the Duke’s court jester became the title character Rigoletto. Hugo was in and out of France for political reasons for most of his life but finally returned in late middle age.

“A couple of years before he died, he was able to see not only a revival of his play which was done for the first time in 50 years, but he also saw a performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto which he said he thought was better than his play,” Driscoll told us. “Hugo’s favorite part of the opera was the quartet which has no equivalent in his original source material.” Enrico Caruso, Flora Perini, Amelita Galli-Curci, Giuseppe DeLuca (1917) singing the Act III quartet, ‘Bella figlia dell’amore’: Driscoll reports that the Duke’s aria "La donna è mobile" caused a sensation. “Verdi was loath to show the manuscript to anybody – including the tenor who was going to have to introduce it – because it was such a catchy tune. He didn’t want it whistled by everyone in the street before the show had opened.

It is the hit tune from the opera and no one sings it better than Luciano Pavarotti!” Luciano Pavarotti singing ‘La donna è mobile’: Produced by: Giuseppe Verdi Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio (17.11.1839 Teatro alla Scala, Milan). Opera in 2 acts, Temistocle Solera . Un giorno di regno (5.9.1840 Teatro alla Scala, Milan) [Il finto Stanislao]. Melodramma giocoso in 2 acts, Felice Romani, after the comedy Le Faux Stanislas by Alexandre Vincent Pineu-Duval. Nabucodonosor (9.3.1842 Teatro alla Scala, Milan) (Nabucco). Opera in 4 parts, Temistocle Solera , after the play Nabucodonosor by Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue. I lombardi alla prima crociata (11.2.1843 Teatro alla Scala, Milan).

Opera in 4 acts, Temistocle Solera , after the poem of the same name by Tommaso Grossi. Ernani (9.3.1844 Teatro la Fenice, Venice). Opera in 4 acts, Francesco Maria Piave , after the play Hernani by Victor Hugo. I due Foscari (3.11.1844 Teatro Argentina, Rome). Opera in 3 acts, Francesco Maria Piave , after Lord Byron's play The Two Foscari. Giovanna d'Arco (15.2.1845 Teatro alla Scala, Milan). Opera in a prologue & 3 acts, Temistocle Solera , after Schiller's drama Die Jungfrau von Orleans. Alzira (12.8.1845 Teatro San Carlo, Naples). Opera in a prologue and 2 acts, Salvatore Cammarano , after Voltaire's tragedy Alzire, ou les Amï¿œricains. Attila (17.3.1846 Teatro la Fenice, Venice).

Opera in a prologue & 3 acts, Temistocle Solera (and Francesco Maria Piave ), after the play Attila, Kï¿œnig der Hunnen by Zacharias Werner. Macbeth (14.3.1847 Teatro della Pergola, Florence). Opera in 4 acts, Francesco Maria Piave , after Shakespeare's play. I masnadieri . (22.7.1847 Her Majesty's Theatre, London). Opera in 4 acts, Andrea Maffei, after Schiller's drama Die Rï¿œuber Jï¿œrusalem [rev of I lombardi] (26.11.1847 Acadï¿œmie Royale de Musique, Paris). Opera in 4 acts, Alphonse Royer & Gustave Vaï¿œz. Il corsaro (25.10.1848 Teatro Grande, Trieste). Opera in 3 acts, Francesco Maria Piave , after Lord Byron's poem The Corsair. La battaglia di Legnano (27.1.1849 Teatro Argentina, Rome).

Opera in 4 acts, Salvatore Cammarano , after the play La Battaille de Toulouse by Joseph Mï¿œry. Luisa Miller (8.12.1849 Teatro San Carlo, Naples). Opera in 3 acts, Salvatore Cammarano , after Schiller's drama Kabale und Liebe. Stiffelio (16.11.1850 Teatro Grande, Trieste). Opera in 3 acts, Francesco Maria Piave , after the play Le Pasteur, ou L'ï¿œvangile et le Foyer by ï¿œmile Souvestre and Eugï¿œne Bourgeois. Rigoletto (11.3.1851 Teatro la Fenice, Venice). Opera in 3 acts, Francesco Maria Piave , after the drama Le Roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. Il trovatore (19.1.1853 Teatro Apollo, Rome). Opera in 4 acts, Salvatore Cammarano (and Leone Emanuele Bardare), after the play El Trovador by Antonio Garcï¿œa Gutiï¿œrrez.

La traviata (6.3.1853 Teatro la Fenice, Venice). Opera in 4 parts, Francesco Maria Piave , after the play La Dame aux camï¿œlias by Alexandre Dumas fils. Les vï¿œpres siciliennes (13.6.1855 Acadï¿œmie Impï¿œriale de Musique, Paris). Grand opera in 5 acts, Augustin Eugï¿œne Scribe & Charles Duveyrier, after their libretto Le Duc d'Albe Giovanna de Guzman (I vespri siciliani) [rev of Les vï¿œpres siciliennes] (26.12.1855 Teatro Regio, Parma). Scribe & Eugenio Caimi. Simon Boccanegra (12.3.1857 Teatro la Fenice, Venice). Opera in a prologue and 3 acts, Francesco Maria Piave (and Giuseppe Montanelli), after the play Simon Bocanegra by Antonio Garcï¿œa Gutiï¿œrrez.

Aroldo [rev of Stiffelio] (16.8.1857 Teatro Nuovo, Rimini). Opera in 4 parts, Francesco Maria Piave Un ballo in maschera (17.2.1859 Teatro Apollo, Rome) Opera in 3 acts, Antonio Somma , after Scribe's libretto Gustave III. La forza del destino (10.11.1862 Bol'shoy Kamennï¿œy Teatr, St. Petersburg). Opera in 4 acts, Francesco Maria Piave , (and Andrea Maffei) after the play Don Alvaro, o La Fuerza del sino by Angel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, and Schiller's drama Wallensteins Lager. Macbeth [rev] (19.4.1865 Thï¿œâtre Lyrique, Paris).

Don Carlos (11.3.1867 Acadï¿œmie Impï¿œriale de Musique, Paris) Grand opera in 5 acts, Joseph Mï¿œry & Camille du Locle, after Schiller's dramatic poem Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien La forza del destino [rev] (27.2.1869 Teatro alla Scala, Milan). Libretto additions by Antonio Ghislanzoni Aida (24.12.1871 Opera House, Cairo). Opera in 4 acts, Antonio Ghislanzoni , from a scenario by Auguste Mariette. Don Carlo [rev of Don Carlos] (1872, Naples). Translation by Achille de Lauziï¿œres, with additions by Antonio Ghislanzoni . Simon Boccanegra [rev] (24.3.1881 Teatro alla Scala, Milan). Libretto additions and changes by Arrigo Boï¿œto . La force du destin [rev of La forza del destino] (14.3.1883, Antwerp).

Libretto translated and adapted by Charles Nuitter & Camille du Locle. Don Carlo [rev 2 of Don Carlos] (10.1.1884 Teatro alla Scala, Milan). Opera in 4 acts. Don Carlo [rev 3 of Don Carlos] (29.12.1886, Modena). Opera in 4 acts. Otello (5.2.1887 Teatro alla Scala, Milan). Opera in 4 acts, Arrigo Boï¿œto , after Shakespeare's Othello. Falstaff (9.2.1893 Teatro alla Scala, Milan). Opera in 3 acts, Arrigo Boï¿œto , after Shakespeare's Falstaff and Henry IV, (1 & 2).

Other Larger Works Inno delle Nazioni (1862, London) String Quartet in e (1873) Requiem (22.5.1874, Church of San Marco, Milan): mass in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, for four solo voices, chorus, and orchestra Pater noster (1873): for 5-part chorus Ave Maria (1880): for soprano and strings Quatro Pezzi sacri (7.4.1898, Grande Opï¿œra, Paris): Ave Maria: for mixed chorus Stabat Mater: for mixed chorus Laudi alla Vergine Maria: for female chorus Te Deum: for double chorus and orchestra 'Rigoletto', de Giuseppe Verdi - YouTube 'Rigoletto', de Giuseppe Verdi Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Nov 30, 2015 'Rigoletto', la ópera de Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) basada en la obra de teatro de Victor Hugo 'Le Roi sámuse', un grito de rabia contra la corrupción y la injusticia, regresa el 30 de noviembre al escenario del Teatro Real de Madrid con una producción de la Royal Opera House Covent Garden de Londres. El director verdiano Nicola Luisotti dirige 15 de las 16 funciones previstas. La del día 26 de diciembre contará con la dirección del español Jordi Bernàcer. Category Hugo and Le roi s'amuse [The librettist to Verdi's Rigoletto was Francesco Maria Piave, who was also the librettist for Verdi's La Traviata and Simon Boccanegra among other works. He was directed by the composer to base his text on Victor Hugo's successful stage play, itself a fictional account of the courtly life of Francis I of France. - NMR] Victor Hugo based his play Le roi s'amuse on the life of the French King Francis I.

He researched the period carefully, even consulting original documents. But eventually his own political beliefs took over, and Francis became a thinly disguised Louis-Philippe. The resulting play just begged to be banned, and it was. To compound his troubles, minutes before the opening, on November 22, 1832, news ran through the theatre that Louis Philippe had been assassinated. (In fact, an attempt had been made but the king was not hurt.) The next day the order was received to close the play, ostensibly because it "contained passages constituting an outrage on public manners". The real reason was that a monarch was held up to public ridicule. The letter Hugo received from the stage manager of the Comédie-Française read: "It is half-past ten, and I have just received the order to suspend the performance of Le roi s'amuse. It is M. Taylor who communicates this command from the Minister". Hugo was furious. Only two years before, the Charter of Abolition of Censorship had been proclaimed.

He pointed out that the Charter said that: "The French have the right to publish....Censorship must never be re-established", and that the theatre was only one form of publication; censorship applied not only to print. By banning the play, the Minister, "on his own authority" had deprived the author of his rights and his property. The management of the Comédie Française tried to get the order reversed. Instead, the council of Ministers ordered the play definitely prohibited. The theatre managers were forbidden to complain, and afraid their licences would be revoked, they obeyed. This could not silence Hugo. In his Preface to the printed version, he wrote a blistering defense of his work: The play is immoral? Do you think so? Is it the subject? Triboulet is deformed, Triboulet is unhealthy, Triboulet is a court buffoon  a three-fold misery which makes him evil. Triboulet hates the King because he is King, the nobles because they are nobles, and he hates ordinary men because they do not have humps on their backs. His only pastime is to set the nobles unceasingly against the King, crushing the weaker by the stronger.

He depraves the King, corrupts and stultifies him; he encourages him in tyranny, in ignorance and in vice. He lures him to the families of gentlemen, pointing out the wife to seduce, the sister to carry off, the daughter to dishonor. The King in the hands of Triboulet is but an all-powerful puppet which ruins the lives of those in the midst of a festival. At the moment Triboulet is urging the King to carry off the wife of M. de Cossé, M., de Saint-Vallier reaches the presence chamber, and in a loud voice reproaches the King for the dishonor of Diana de Poitiers. This father, from whom the King has taken his daughter, is jeered at and insulted by Triboulet. Then the father puts out his hand and curses Triboulet. It is from this scene that the whole play develops. The real subject of the drama is the curse of M. de Saint-Vallier....On whom has this curse fallen? On Triboulet as the King's fool? No. On Triboulet as a man, a father who has a heart and has a daughter....Triboulet has but his daughter in the world.

He hides her away in a deserted part of the city. The more he spreads the contagion and vice in the town, the more he seeks to isolate and immure his daughter. His greatest fear is that she may fall into evil, since being evil himself he knows the suffering it causes. The same king whom Triboulet is urging to rape, will ravish his daughter. He wishes to kill the King, and so avenge his child, it is his Daughter whom he slays. The curse of Diane's father will be fulfilled on the father of Blanche. It is not for us to decide if this is a dramatic idea, but certainly it is a moral one....If the piece is moral in its invention, is it that it was immoral in its execution? Probably there is nothing immoral in the first and second acts. Is it the situation in the third [in the play the one in the Duke's chamber} which shocks? Is it the fourth act which is objectionable? But when is it not permitted for a king on the stage to make love to the servant at an inn? The Greek theatre...has done it. Shakespeare...has done it.

[Authority] wished that the public should stifle this play from a distorted imagination, without hearing or understanding it, even as Othello stifles Desdemona. In the end, the ban backfired. The printed version became required reading for all who wished to remain au courant. Verdi's version became famous, and Rigoletto was performed over 100 times in Paris while the play was banned. Hugo was irritated, but when he finally heard the opera, agreed it was better than the play. He particularly admired the Quartet./p> Nothing stopped the play from being produced elsewhere. It was very popular in American under the title The Fool's Revenge", with the actor Edwin Booth in one of his best rôles. Finally, on November 22, 1882, fifty years to the day after its one and only other Paris performance, and with an audience of dignitaries, Hugo could once again see his play. With a few exceptions, Rigoletto follows Le roi s'amuse closely. The characters are as follows: Le roi s'amuse Maguelonne Maddelena * Historic characters. See Francis I and his Court. M.

de Saint-Vallier was the father of Diane de Poiters, later the mistress of Francis's son, Henry II. While there are stories she had also been associated with Francis, there is no historic basis for this, and it is highly unlikely. One story is that she gave herself to Francis to save her father's life. In truth, it was probably her husband, to whom she was faithful while he lived, who used his influence with Francis to obtain her father's release and pardon. There is no equivalent of the Quartet in Hugo. At the end of the play, Blanche dies very quickly. People try to drag Triboulet away but, until a doctor comes, he refuses to believe she is dead. Then he screams, "I have killed my child". The ending of the opera is much stronger.

Question: Which Verdi opera is based on the play Le Roi S'amuse by Victor Hugo?
Answer: Rigoletto